Orlando traumatized New York when they built an 18 point lead halfway into the first quarter as the Knicks allowed the Magic to pour 44 points by the end of it.

“It’s one quarter every game. If you go back through all of them it’s one quarter where the doors get blown off. I can’t put my thumb on it. It’s different mistakes every game, but it’s a quarter. Somehow I’ve got to get it to where we can get 48 minutes out of this group.”

– David Fizdale

The Knicks battled to comeback in the second act and managed to cut the lead to just one point by halftime. Evan Fournier and Eric Gordon, however, pushed their team from behind in the second half and even though New York were still trailing just by three points with 8:31 left to play, they couldn’t change the fate of the game.

Tim Hardaway Jr. led the Knicks with a game high 32 points, shooting 9-10 from the field, including 5-10 from long distance. Trey Burke followed with 31 buckets and a better shooting – 11-20 while Enes Kanter returned to his usual numbers with 21 points and 19 boards. In fact, he put up double-double numbers in the second quarter with 10 of each. Emmanuel Mudiay also finished in double figures with 12 points as a starter.

The Magic were led by Aaron Gordon’s 31 points. Nikola Vucevic had 28 buckets and 10 rebounds and Evan Fournier finished with 19 buckets.

Kevin Knox, the 19 years old rookie from Kentucky has yet to find his mojo as his shooting ability raises plenty of question marks. He went 2-8 last night finishing with just 4 points and he averages 31.7% during the last 10 games.

“I had some shots I’ve been making the last few games. Tonight, it wasn’t falling.”

– Kevin Knox

Mitchell Robinson, the other rookie, doesn’t make it easier. After setting a franchise record against the Magic on their previous matchup, Robinson picked up 5 personal fouls and played under 10 minutes. He finished scoreless and blockless.

The Knicks have now dropped 4-13 and will host the leaders of the Western Conference, the 11-5 Trail Blazers, on Wednesday night.